HOS

Are you just looking at the driving hours when you total less than 60?

You only get the hours back on your recap that roll-off the back end of the sliding 8-day period. You have 9 hours left to drive tomorrow. At midnight tomorrow you'll get whatever you used on the day before you were at the terminal.

 

One thing I have learned about running at the end of the 70, and that it is harder for the FM to get you loads because you are restricted by your returning hours. One thing you have to look at and question??? Is it more advantageous to take a 34 or continue to stream back those hours? It hurt me a couple weeks ago because the returning time limited the loads that the FM could assign me. Just something to thing about.....

 

When you get down to it, you end up with the same number of drivable hours in a week if you work your recap, or blast 'em all out as fast as you can and then kick your heels at some podunk truckstop doing a 34. The only problem using recap is if you have the majority of your hours invested in only a few days.

 

It seems to me that I get more loads with longer miles the more I have available on my 70.

It's pure speculation, but I think load planners initially only look at what you have available on the 70 plus a day or two out on what's coming back. IMHO, I think they only dig deeper when a pickup is tight and/or there are not alot of trucks in an area... Or going to be in an area.

If I can squeeze it in, I will take a 34. In some instances I may request it if the next couple day's hours are terrible. Usually, I've been running hard and I may have a couple hours left with nothing coming back tomorrow, and a handful of hours the following day.

You will never know what load you missed out on, you will never know what crappy load you may have dodged... And only occasionally will you know that you got a load you could barely make, and had to be repowered based on circumstances beyond your control.

So why worry about "what ifs?" and do the best you can do, when you can do it.

My philosophy is maximize your hours everyday. Hours you put off till tomorrow are hours you have to wait that much longer to get back 8 days later when you are running against your 70.

The hours you get back sooner may make the difference. Then again maybe they won't. Anyone ever been told they missed out on a great load because they decided to break early last week by running 9 instead of 11? Probably not.

I can bet you have been on a load, under pressure against your 70, wishing you had more hours, and looking back at what you did over a week ago and wondering if you could of had a little more time coming your way tonight rather than tomorrow night if you'd done things a little different. If you maximize your time and use whats available when its available, you don't have to wonder... It is what it is.

 

Well after running for the past couple weeks off recaps, I can tell ya that it's tricky at first. Running short trips can be aggravating, but long hauls let you adjust your hours back to a more manageable level.

For example, I delivered in Wyoming with only 7 hours left in my day and had to drive 3 hours to my next shipper. Since I only gained 6.5 hours back the next day, I decided to call it an early day and roll the remaining 3.5 hours of available on OD time for tomorrow on my 70. That gave me just over 10 hours for the first full day driving. Then I gained 9 hours the next day, so I rolled another half hour over.

A three day trip, I was able to still log 550+ miles per day and keep my OD and Driving time in check to about 10 hours.

So the following week, I had almost 7 straight days of 10 hour recaps. If you just keep your FM in the loop, follow a plan, and don't waste time, you can still roll.

But if you stop for 24 (like at the terminal), just recap and stay another 10. If you don't that 0 hour day is gonna bite you in the rear.

 

If you are not going to take a reset always show some time on duty..gives you some to get back each day and keeps you rolling.

 

What? I'm not showing anything im not not actually doing.

Explain why I would show on duty hours today for something not actually done... Those hours are now lost for the next 8 days.

You don't lose hours. Hours not used today are still there tomorrow.

I'm simply saying don't put off to tomorrow what can be done today.